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Divers are seen during the discovery of a centuries-old shipwreck in Cascais, on a photo published Monday.
Augusto Salgado / Cascais Town Hall / Document via Reuters
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Augusto Salgado / Cascais Town Hall / Document via Reuters
Divers are seen during the discovery of a centuries-old shipwreck in Cascais, on a photo published Monday.
Augusto Salgado / Cascais Town Hall / Document via Reuters
A 400-year-old shipwreck that marked a time when the spice trade between Portugal and India was in full swing was discovered 40 feet below the surface of the water when a dredging project.
The sinking was discovered off Cascais, Portugal, not far from the capital, Lisbon.
According to the BBC, archaeologists believe that the ship sank while returning from a trip to India between 1575 and 1625.
Divers looking for wreckage found spices, nine bronze guns engraved with Portuguese coat of arms, Chinese ceramics and cowrie shells, once used as currency for slaves, according to Reuters.
Jorge Freire, project director, told Reuters that "it's the discovery of the decade".
"In Portugal, it's the most important discovery of all time," says Freire.
Another photo published Monday showing divers in Cascais.
Augusto Salgado / Cascais Town Hall / Document via Reuters
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Augusto Salgado / Cascais Town Hall / Document via Reuters
Another photo published Monday showing divers in Cascais.
Augusto Salgado / Cascais Town Hall / Document via Reuters
The Portuguese Government's Directorate General for Cultural Heritage plans to examine the items found aboard the wreck, reports The Guardian.
Freire told the newspaper, "We found the ship on September 4, using a geophysical survey and divers, and spent four days working on the site."
The last time a Portuguese shipwreck was discovered, it was in 1994. The ship, Our Lady of the Martyrs, was found in the same general area, near a military defense complex near Cascais.
